§ Mr. GerrardTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Walthamstow constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154178]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonWalthamstow, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, is benefiting from the long-term action we have taken to build economic stability and secure high and stable levels of growth and employment. Since the General Election, claimant unemployment in the constituency has fallen by 1,864, or 41 per cent., youth unemployment is down by 83 per cent. and long-term unemployment has fallen by 70 per cent.
Macroeconomic stability is being complemented at the microeconomic level by the Government's policies to ease the transition from welfare into work and to make work pay. To the end of December 2000, the New Deal for 18–24 year olds had helped 1,475 young people in Walthamstow constituency gain valuable skills and experience 585 (40 per cent.) of whom had moved into employment. The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), introduced in October 1999, is helping to make work pay for low and middle-income families. In August 2000, 1,300 families in Walthamstow constituency were benefiting from WFTC.
The Government are also committed to policies which enable pensioners to share in the country's rising prosperity. All pensioners, including 11,000 in Walthamstow constituency, will receive an above-inflation increase in the basic state pension from April 2001. Single pensioners will receive an extra £5 a week, 691W and couples will receive an extra £8 a week. All pensioners aged 75 or over have also been entitled to a free TV licence since November 2000—including around 7,400 in Walthamstow constituency.